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Topic: Question about level of nutrition in the best pizza crust (Read 14259 times)

To give you an idea for my motivation of nutrtion with this project, I am a bodybuilder. Thus, my diet is controlled constantly. However, for 8 months out of the year I am in "offseason" mode where I can be lax and i dont have to weigh everything i eat and I can go out to eat but i still keep an eye out for whats healthy.

Now for the pizza part. I have a contest this weekend and for the next two weeks I will be celebrating with healthy pizzas. I haev read a lot of things about different flours on this site but I have failed to piece together quality flour and nutrution. My plan is to use whole wheat flour with maybe even some oat flour mixed in for a unique nutty flavor.

My question is...Can I successfully make a crust with ALL whole wheat flour? if so, what brand should I look for?If not, how much of the lesser nutrient rich flour will I have to have with the whole wheat to make a solid crust?

PS I plan on using an IDY for my first few pizzas while I get my italian starters going from sourdo.com at which point I will be making almost all of my crust and other baked goods with the starter.

I wonder why you are that concerned about whole wheat flour? I don't think it will taste good. My wife is obsessed with it... "it's so healthy yada yada yada." I think all you are really getting is more fibre. Look at the ingredients and nutritional information on the labels compared to whole wheat flour and regular wheat flour. P.S. I am a cyclist - I spend 20 hours a week riding 300+ miles and I eat tons of whole wheat, bran , vegetables, etc. But when it comes to pizza, I can see nothing wrong with eating a pizza crust made from quality unbleached flour, salt, yeast and water. If you want to be healthy, go easy on the quantity of cheese (maybe use part skim?), and a good healthy sauce with no junk(sugar,etc.) in it and healthy toppings. I love broccoli. If you are set on wheat flour, you could try a few things: different percentages of wheat flour: whole wheat flour. For my bread I use about 66% regular and 33% wheat. You could also try "white wheat flour". If anyone has any information as to what nutritionally you really get from whole wheat vs wheat I would love to hear.

I think a 100% whole wheat pizza can be good, but it’s harder to make. If you look under the heading “Other Types”, you will find the topic called “Whole Wheat Crust Ideas”.

As far as flours go, King Arthur white whole wheat has worked for me, but I add vital wheat gluten (VWG). (By the way, one of the recipes in the KA Whole Grain Baking book is 100% whole wheat, but I haven’t tried it.) For a 100% WW pizza, I would recommend Wheat Montana’s Bronze Chief or Prairie Gold. These hard spring wheats are very high in protein and low in moisture. Their high absorption % will require extra water.

If you are interested in 100% WW in order to lower your glycemic load, I’ve seen on the web that it’s not much of an improvement over refined flour. It may have something to do with whole wheat’s having mostly insoluble, not soluble, fiber.

I would say also stick to just regular unbleached flour. Everyone says there are no extra nutritional benefits (except the fiber, I suppose).. But hasn't it also been shown that mixing low glycemic foods with higher glycemic (the dough) in the same meal results in an "averaging down" scenario for blood sugar regulation anyway? Seems you could just add some high fiber, low glycemic veggies to the pizza and/or drink down some fiber with it and get the same net result.

kroxic.....Most of my pizzas contain some whole grains. Lately I use at least 1/3 whole grains. I think it is much healthier than white flour and tastes better. I also don't believe that the food scientists totally understanding or know everything about the benefits of a diet rich in whole grains. Most of them are employed by big corporations that are more interested in the bottom line than your good health.

I made a pizza with 100% stone ground whole wheat. It is called Rambo pizza and is located under other types. It came out OK but was heavy. I also made a 100% whole grain pizza made with Gold Medal whole wheat flour that came out pretty good (sorry no pics). If you are looking for fiber I have found that stone ground rye flour has 20 grams of fiber per cup as opposed to 12 grams for whole wheat. Coincidentilly, I made a 50% whole grain dough just this morning and will bake it this afternoon. I'll post pictures later this weekend.

The bottom line is pizza can be a healthy meal and does not have to be a dumping ground of excess fat, salt, and colon clogging white flour!

Mix together to combine in KitchenAid mixer on stir for 2 minutes, let rest 30 minutes. Mix on stir for 3 minutes. Let rise at room temperature with a stretch and fold every 3-4 hours. Scale at 180 gm and let rise for another 2 hours for a total of 9 hours. Baked at 675+ degrees for 3 minutes in the LBE.Check out this video of the LBE cooking pizza #4: ()

Hey thanks Villa Rome. I JUST got back from my bodybuilding competition like an hour ago.... now im REALLY hungry for some pizza. The recipe you posted might just make me run out to the 24 grocery right now and get soem rye and try it.

I only make 100% whole wheat pizza crusts, now, because of health issues in my family. I use home-milled hard white wheat and use one of two recipes. I sometimes make it with sourdough, using Mike Avery's recipe (http://www.sourdoughhome.com/pizzacrusts.html) and sometimes I use Peter Reinhart's recipe in the BBA. They both make excellent crusts, whether pressed thin or left thick. Of course, they are a little different than crusts using processed white flour, but they are very tasty. I don't think they would taste as good using store bought whole wheat unless you can get white whole wheat. The regular has kind of a bitter flavor.

Bryan....I can't get American white whole wheat here unless I order it from the states. I can only get what they stock at the commissary so I use German white whole wheat that I get from a local bakery. It's milled really fine and I made a 100% whole wheat pizza with it and Hodgsons mills stone ground graham flour mixed 50/50. See below picture. I cooked it in my kitchen oven at 500 degrees. It came out good but it needs more heat. Next time I'll go with the LBE at 625+.

I have used freshly ground Kamut wheat with both instant yeast and a starter I made with grapes from our vines. The style is the same our family has always made, what is referred to as Sicilian style. It has a high protein and good flavor, not bitter like some whole wheats. Just flour, water, salt and yeast (or starter), have on occasion added a little honey (less than a tablespoon) to dough for a little difference. I use some olive oil when I spread the dough out, and a simple sauce. The sauce is just fresh tomatoes, fresh onion, fresh garlic, basil (home grown and dried), kosher salt, black pepper, and a little Aleppo pepper (for a little zing). As far as toppings mostly whatever is available or leftover plus some cheese, usually mozzarella, sharp provolone and romano. Keep it as simple and fresh as possible.Woody.

Bryan....I can't get American white whole wheat here unless I order it from the states. I can only get what they stock at the commissary so I use German white whole wheat that I get from a local bakery. It's milled really fine and I made a 100% whole wheat pizza with it and Hodgsons mills stone ground graham flour mixed 50/50. See below picture. I cooked it in my kitchen oven at 500 degrees. It came out good but it needs more heat. Next time I'll go with the LBE at 625+.

Villa Roma

Thanks for the info. I'm trying to eat a "little" more on the healthy side and was just wondering about the use of the HM white whole wheat. Just looking at the flour it would seem to me that if I used it at 100% for a pizz crust it would be a very heavy pizza crust. Really need to get away from all this refined crap I eat, and I'll just have to experiment with some different flours and combos. If I hit on something I'll be sure to post my results.

Bryan....A 100% whole grain crust is the holy grail of pizza. I have found that in order to create a whole grain crust that is relatively light and flavorfull you must employ several techniques.

High hydration, at least some finely ground flour and special dough handling "tricks" to fully develop and strengthen the small amount of gluten present in whole grains.

I'll be making an another attempt at 100% whole grain pizza again this weekend and I think I can nail this recipe soon.

Now if we can just get the forum admins to create a "Healthy Whole Grain" pizza category, that would be nice. If we can have a category for "Desert pizza" and "Thick Style" then why not whole grain pizza?

Villa, Do you have a link or could you shed some more info for me? Thanks, Man

Bryan.....Not sure what you're looking for here but if you talk to a doctor or nutritionist and ask them if whole grains are more healthy than white flour, they can help you out. You can also just google "colon clogging white flour" or "is white flour bad for you" etc. Eat more whole grains, your colon will thank you for it! There's nothing more important than your good health.

A whole grain catagory would be a nice addition to the list, I sure many of us would like to find a healthier way to enjoy our favorite pie! It might take a little longer in preperation or a change of mind set as to texture and flavor but if it helps us then we can live better. Long life, good love, sweet wine, and healthfull food (especially pizza!), one need not ask for more!Woody.

From time to time, usually in response to a popular new diet book or craze or the results of a major health study, people get guilt feelings about eating pizza. Usually the reaction to such concerns by those who have a vested interest in the status quo (e.g., people who make, sell and promote pizza) is to become defensive and try to make out a case that pizza is really a healthy food, especially when “eaten in moderation” (the canard of anyone who sells anything that is suspect health-wise). The other common reaction is to suggest ways of modifying existing dough formulations and using healthier toppings to make pizza healthier overall. An example of the latter approach is articles like these:http://www.pmq.com/mag/2003november_december/healthbuildingpizza.shtml and http://www.pmq.com/healthy_pizza.shtml. For a while, people make adjustments in their diets, maybe take a few more vitamin supplements, exercise more, and generally eat healthier but, invariably, the health issue blows over and people go back to their old ways. Feeling better about matters, they are then likely to eat even more unhealthy food. The cycle is vicious and nothing the government or anyone else has advocated has worked. The ubiquity of food and its low cost have combined to create health issues that are bound to be with us for a long time.

I personally think that the pizza choices are quite clear: you either eat less pizza of the “unhealthy” variety or you make the product healthier, as Villa Roma, charbo and others on this forum have done. In my case, I eat “bad” pizza in moderation and I alter the rest of my daily diet to balance things out. Yet, I applaud those who have taken the other path.

It is not in my jurisdiction as a Moderator to create a new pizza category. However, if anyone is able to convince Steve, the Administrator of the forum, to create another pizza category, I am willing to move existing posts to that new category. Since “healthy” is a charged word, I might suggest something like “Whole-grain and Multi-grain Pizzas”.

How about it Steve? Is there a chance of having a "Multi and Whole Grain" catagory? I have noticed that the topic of whole wheat use has come up numerous times and it might be nice to have a grouping of the questions and ideas pertaining to the subject. I agree with Peter that a lot of people are quick to try the newest diet craze but eventually fall off the wagon however some folks (my self included) have had to modify our diets because of poor choices in the past and family health history, others may just be searching for a more wholesome or rustic / back to basics pizza diet. What ever their reasoning for trying to change some of their eating habits if they can find a source for ideas and comradery it might be of benefit to them and others.I guess I better step down from my podium now, sorry if I began to preach on the subject.Woody.